Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to communications in a “cloud” computing environment. More particularly, it relates to dynamically creating virtual private network tunnels in a hybrid cloud environment.
Background of the Related Art
An emerging information technology (IT) delivery model is cloud computing, by which shared resources, software and information are provided over the Internet to computers and other devices on-demand. Cloud computing can significantly reduce IT costs and complexities while improving workload optimization and service delivery. With this approach, an application instance can be hosted and made available from Internet-based resources that are accessible through a conventional Web browser over HTTP. An example application might be one that provides a common set of messaging functions, such as email, calendaring, contact management, and instant messaging. A user would then access the service directly over the Internet. Using this service, an enterprise would place its email, calendar and/or collaboration infrastructure in the cloud, and an end user would use an appropriate client to access his or her email, or perform a calendar operation.
Cloud computing resources are typically housed in large server farms that run network applications, either using a hardware architecture, so-called bare metal cloud hosting, or using a virtualized architecture wherein applications run inside virtual servers, or so-called “virtual machines” (VMs), that are mapped onto physical servers in a data center facility. The virtual machines typically run on top of a hypervisor, which is a control program that allocates physical resources to the virtual machines.
It is known for an organization to arrange computing resources in a hybrid cloud environment, containing both a private cloud in which the computing resources are owned by the organization and provide services only for that organization, and a public cloud in which another organization provides computing services for a plurality of “tenants” including the organization operating the hybrid cloud. One benefit of a hybrid cloud model is having on-premises, private infrastructure that is directly accessible, while providing access to the public cloud environment in times of high demand. With this integration, however, there is a need for secure communication between the two environments. One way in which communications are established is through a dedicated virtual public network (VPN) tunnel.
The disclosure below details ways to improve VPN communication in a hybrid cloud environment.